FIA wants stricter testing on flexi-wing: Less fighting off the track

The so-called 'flexi-wings' played a major role in 2021. After the introduction of stricter rules, the FIA did not discover any rule violations by the teams, but from 2022 onwards, the FIA will look at them extra strictly.

Battle between Red Bull and Mercedes

While Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton battled on the track for the world championship in 2021, Red Bull Racing and Mercedes battled at least as hard off the track. Mercedes said at the start of the season that Red Bull would have a rear wing that could deflect too much. This would give the Austrian team extra top speed on the straights.

Towards the end of the season, it was Red Bull that accused Mercedes of the same violation. Eventually, additional tests were conducted in Qatar to come up with even stricter regulations in the future.

Stricter tests from 2022 onwards

FIA's head of single seater matters Nikolas Tombazis let it be known at Autosport.com that during the last tests in Qatar no irregularities were found with the teams. However, the Greek admits that the tests need to be improved. He hopes to make the first changes before the new season starts.

Tombazis let it be known that improvement is necessary. Currently, a rear wing is tested by hanging weight on it. This way, inspectors can see to what extent the wing deflects.